Friends

 "Casey’s kinda taken over the mothering in her family."

Nowhere near my desired word count (7286/50K) - but at least I'm back in the game after being gone Fri/Sat. More writing tomorrow!

Finished another funny guy book I'll pass along to Tornado Boy:



Allen Zadoff's FOOD, GIRLS, AND OTHER THINGS I CAN'T HAVE. Andy Zansky is a big guy who's learning to inhabit his bigness. He's a poetry-reading, model-UN geek whose life does a 180 when the star quarterback of the high school football team takes a sudden interest in him.

T-boy will like the jokes, but I liked the football plot.

 I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I started GIVE UP THE GHOST by Megan Crewe. But, I did expect to be able to put the book down and get some sleep. That, however, was not what happened!

 

From heroine, Cass’s dead big sister, Paige, to Chester, the ghost we never ‘see’ but do get to hear about - I loved Crewe’s ghosts! And their faint lingering scents... how cool is that?

 

Cass is a girl that it’s hard to love right away. She’s tough, out of necessity. Kinda cruel - again, out of necessity. And she does not have a clue how to be a friend to anyone (except maybe Paige - but Paige is dead, so that doesn’t really count.)

 

I stayed up reading, because I had to... I had to see if/how Cass grew. I’ll leave it to you to read the book in order to find out - but, I have to say again - I stayed up reading it until I was done (didn’t even flip to the last page to see how it ended.)

 

The interactions between wounded people rang very true. The writing was great and didn’t get in the way of the story at all.

 

I love Crewe’s visualization of how the afterlife may be.

 

All in all - I’ve gotta say - write more soon, Megan!

Add

I went to Spokane yesterday to feed my passion for books. For once, not to buy them, but to discuss them with a group of kindred writer spirits. It was 90 miles home in the dark, but worth every mile. Plus, I had a near-full low-horizon moon and Gary Schmidt's words to light my way. I listened to Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy both directions, the moon showing bright on both the stubble fields of Eastern Washington and the shore of Lizzie's Malaga Island.



Lizzie's Island

This morning the girls and I went to the mall. We got some clothes (which I NEVER buy at malls so it was extra fun), some lunch and some books.

This afternoon I rested and read.

This evening Tyler and I left the kids at home and had dinner with some friends. We had a great time. I'm still all wired and happy. We need to visit with grown ups more often--especially those particular grown ups.

Now it's night and Tyler went out to play with his buddies like he does every other week and I'm home with the kids. Ellen is making cupcakes, Charlotte is making paper beads and Simon is recovering from his camp out last night and is already in bed.

That's about it. It was a nice day!

A twelve-year-old girl told me today that she liked my hair. Ha! No one ever likes my hair. I don't even like my hair! I am on the verge of 37 and still can't even figure out how to properly do my hair.

So I will cling to this compliment. If I knew how to needlepoint, I'd put it on a pillow.

For those of you who happened to Google your title and ended up here, please know that one star is not a bad thing in Robin's world -- just the fact the I picked up your book and started it means that somewhere it's getting good buzz (or that your blurb was really cool). 'R' means it's a re-read. Different colored font means it's an ARC (and I'll try to remember to put the month it's released, as well). I'm linking to the Powell's pages for the ARCs.

* I didn't make it beyond the first 20 pages.
** I made it to the end, but I either skimmed or skipped large sections.
*** I might have skipped/skimmed, but I liked it and might read it again.
**** I read at least 95% of the book and it was good -- definitely will be reread.
***** I read every word, and I loved it! A favorite.

Busted: Confessions of an Accidental Player, by Antony John ***+ One of my favorite parts about this story (where a guy, trying to be popular or at least noticed, agrees to help the jocks with a disparaging yearbook prank) is how girl power comes out in force. Although I found it a bit implausible that guys at any public school would be able to do what these guys are attempting to do, I loved the outcome -- and I wish that the girls in our high school had learned that type of self-confidence and lack of objectifying! Definitely an interesting read.

Dirty Laundry, by Daniel Ehrenhaft ***+ This is a very cute mystery. It looks like it could have sequel(s), as well, so I'll keep an eye out. A boy and girl (strangers to each other) work together to solve a disappearance...and nothing is what it seems.

loserville, by Peter Johnson ** Not for me. I couldn't get into the story, and after just feeling depressed, I finally stopped around chapter three.

Dani Noir, by Nova Ren Suma **** This is a fun, unique, well-written book. I liked the voice (and found it quite authentic), and even though the MC is pretty darn self-absorbed, she has good intentions...and the voice is so well-done that I found myself sympathizing with her more than I thought I would as she tries to come to grips with the fact that her dad left her and her family for another woman (around the same time her best friend moved away and her old babysitter's boyfriend might be cheating on her). A good story about the complexities of life and how confusing those are when we're tweens.

1. My book is just about done. Well, the writing part of it. My editor and I have been going back and forth over revisions and I am just loving loving LOVING working with her. I had one big concern and I was nervous about bringing it up but she was awesome as we talked it out and she talked to the club managers; and all is well and hunky-dory in writing land. I think we're pretty much done with revisions; so it's off to copy-editing next. I know this speedy pace is not the norm but I'm enjoying it. It's a good thing for my life right now.

2. The consequence of #1 is that the novel I'd hoped to work on during JoNoWriMo has been put off. Ah well. I'm still feeling the love. So soon enough . . .

3. The Mid-Atlantic SCBWI conference is this coming weekend. Hooray! I love attending this conference and getting to see some of the friends I only see once or twice a year. And best of all, this year my fabulous agent Linda Pratt is one of the speakers! We're going out to dinner on Friday night before the conference. Although we have fairly frequent phone conversations, I haven't seen her in real life since ALA of 2007, so I'm super excited.

4. The thing I hate most about football on TV, aside from the fact that it's football, is the crowd noise in the background. It reverberates through the entire house, even if the volume isn't that loud.

5. I want some pie. I had some low-fat popcorn. It did not suffice.

6. I bought my puppy a dead duck toy. It looks pretty real from a distance. My kids, never having seen dead ducks, think it looks like a half duck/half squirrel. I cannot convince them otherwise. That's okay. I've become accustomed to the fact that convincing them of anything is a rare occurrence indeed.

First of all, you can enter to be the next stop on the Chase Around the USA for the CHASING BROOKLYN ARC. All the details are HERE. (Enter there, not here). EDITED TO ADD: CONTEST IS NOW OVER. I'll let you know soon when you can enter again!!



I am LOVING the one-word pictures readers are posting after they read the book. So far, the words in the photos have been: Healing, Hope, Dreams

What word will be next? I can't wait to find out!!

Second of all, the wonderful artistq  is having a contest! You can read all about it HERE. She has a beautiful web site where you can see the jewelry she makes - www.SilverFreckles.com.

This is the one I want:



It's going on my Christmas list!

Good luck!!

 Missed yesterday's line because I was on the road to St. Louis. Anyway - have an all-day meeting to go to, but had to work a bit on my NaNo 'cause I'm so behind. Here's today's WIP line...

“I can think of several ways to show him that I am not a little kid.”

So last weekend was the Texas Book Festival.  I wanted to write this killer note about all my adventures and fun times.

I got to stay at the Four Seasons, which never sucks (although $11.00 a night for the internet in 2009 is really kinda lame).






It was an absolutely beautiful autumn weekend in Austin -- sunny skies, temps in the 70s.  Of course, everyone knew I was responsible for the weather.  I went for a run along Town Lake and paid my respects to Stevie Ray Vaughn, and I also strolled the grounds of the state house.

 





At the Festival, Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett, dressed for Halloween, announced the Texas Bluebonnet Master List.  Congrats to Dan Yaccarrino, Graham Salsbury and Gary Paulsen -- all 2010-2011 nominees!



My Sluggers partner, Loren Long, did a presentation on his picture book, Otis.  Then we did a signing together.  Of course, we had to take a pic with one of our biggest supporters.  Thanks, Emily!





I love the Texas Book Festival.  I see so many familiar faces.  School kids introduce the author-presenters.  The librarians are always so gracious.  It's such an incredible vibe.

Reagan -- she introduced my session three years ago at the festival.


Grayson-- he introduced me at my reading


Kenny -- I met him four years ago at school visit, his mom is the "Library Goddess."


But when I got back to my hotel that night, I realized something. I had lost my camera.

To be continued...

I can FINALLY talk about it!

Author of FRONT PAGE FACE-OFF Jo Whittemore's new untitled novel about a tomboy who has pulled one outrageous prank too many and has to attend a "life skills" class, with disastrous results, again to Alyson Heller at Aladdin, by Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

I hope you're having as much fun with NaNoWriMo as I am! Everyone is doing such an amazing job so far. I had my typical slower start, while getting to know my characters and story better. Now, I hit the stage where the words are flying onto my computer. What an incredible feeling!

Here are a few more NaNoWriMo tips I hope will help on your journey toward a 50,000 word novel by November 30th.

1. If you’re typing a little slower than you’d like, try to remember that this is a first draft—it’s not meant to be perfect. In fact, I think it’s impossible to make it perfect. So get plenty of BIC time (butt in chair), and write, write, write. Let the words flow, and try not to edit them too much. There’s plenty of time to revise later. This fast-paced writing will probably add many wonderful surprises, like humorous scenes your internal editor might have nixed, and plot twists you never would have considered until they magically appeared in your manuscript.

2. Think about your story and characters during the day…when you’re driving, in the shower, before you go to bed. And keep paper nearby, because I have a feeling you’ll keep discovering new things about your characters and their story, even when you’re away from your computer.

3. Did an unexpected character pop up? If you want to quickly find a great, current name for your characters, check out this social security site: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/decades/names2000s.html

4. If you haven’t started NaNoWriMo yet, don’t be afraid to jump in at any time. I was revising a novel when I participated for the first time in 2006, and didn’t think I’d be able to take the plunge. (Okay, maybe I was a little scared that I wouldn’t be able to do it, too). But on November 7, I was thinking about my synopsis while getting ready for a party, when a brand new novel idea hit me. I ran downstairs to create a file of notes, and couldn’t stop typing. (Yes, I was late to the party. Very late! But it was worth it.) I ended up writing 60,000 words from November 7 through the 30th that year. So sit down, and write, write, write. I love NaNoWriMo because it forces us to set aside more writing time than usual—so even if we don’t hit that 50,000 word goal, we’ll still have more accomplished by the end of the month than we would without the NaNo push. Which makes us all winners!

Here is one of my favorite tips. Don’t forget to celebrate each milestone! So many of you have written over 10,000 words in the past six days. When I first started writing, I only wrote picture books…until one idea sprouted wings and surprised me. I kept typing and typing, not sure what I was creating…until I hit 10,000 words and realized that I was actually writing my first middle grade novel. I jumped out of my chair and danced around the room. Now, I do a happy dance for every 10,000 word milestone. You can also do something special for yourself—get a massage (which feels amazing after hunching over your computer all those hours), take a hot bubble bath, buy a favorite treat, get a manicure, eat lunch out with friends…whatever works for you.

I’m sending lots of good (and fast) writing vibes your way, and can’t wait to hear more about your NaNoWriMo novels!

Well in a week, I'll be off to the Miami International Book Fair to talk about The Hunchback Assignments. I'm looking forward to my "fun in the sun" tour (sadly, I'm really only there for about 36 hours). It looks like a high of 29 C (84F) there and here in Saskatoon it'll be 2 C (35F). So slightly warmer in Miami! The event is on Saturday, Nov. 14, 1:30 p.m., Auditorium Pavilion C. I'll be sharing the stage with Reade Scott Whinnem and Frank McKinney.
So be prepared for laughs and frights and frights and chuckles. As you can see I'm listed as "no image available." The weird thing is that I actually look like that blue image.

Hey, the event is free! Come one! Come all! We can talk about hockey. Maybe even the Florida Panthers...





Art

Way behind on listing the books read, but this week was insane with book deadline and reading proposals and emailing people about ICFA. But here it is!

Sweetwater by Lawrence Yep
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Living Dead in Dallas by Charlain Harris
The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker
Dragon's Breath by E.D. Baker
Midnight in the Dollhouse by Marjorie Stover
When the Dolls Woke by Margorie Stover
The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff
Marguerite Makes a Book by Bruce Robertson & Kathryn Hewitt

I also just started reading "The Forest of Hands and Teeth" by Carrie Ryan last night. Wow. I'm completely blown away. I read lots of books I like, but that's one I wish I'd written myself. It's so well-constructed and gorgeously written.

Last night during my "Writing the Novel" session I was talking about branches of action, something Adrian Fogelin mentioned at an SCBWI workshop a few years ago. Aka--leaving out boring everyday details and focusing on the parts of your story where characters make definitive choices. I said "'Amanda continued giving her presentation until 7:30' is not interesting, and you could probably gloss over that and go on to the next interesting thing I did. However, 'Amanda suddenly ran from the room screaming' is much more interesting--what made me do that? What happens after that?"

Five minutes later, two of my teens (16-17 year old boys) jumped up and ran screaming from the room. (They came back a couple of minutes later.) It was SO FUNNY. I just kept talking about dialogue and broke for a moment to say--see, THAT's interesting, that's something worth writing about!

I love my teens. :)